The rich get of poorer quality

Microsoft founder Bill Gates regain the top spot, despite his wealth declining $18bn (£13.06bn) to $40bn.

The financial crisis is taking its toll on the world's richest people, wiping 332 names off Forbes magazine's "rich list" of world billionaires.

Just 793 people can now lay claim to a place on the list, but on average they have lost 23% of their wealth.

Don’t go looking for them in soup lines just yet, but the world’s billionaires have suffered too as the economy has tanked.

Where there were 1,125 billionaires on last year’s Forbes list, there were 793 when the new list was released Wednesday.

There was some jostling at the top. Bill Gates moved to No. 1 from No. 3, bumping investing guru Warren Buffett and Mexican telecommunications magnate Carlos Slim to No. 2 and No. 3, respectively. All of the top 10 billionaires saw their net worths fall.

Forbes reported that those on the list of billionaires had an average net worth of $3 billion, down 23 percent.

American billionaires this year accounted for 44 per-cent of the money and 45 percent of the slots. That’s up 7 percentage points and 3 percentage points, respectively.

Houston lost two of its billionaires, with money manager Fayez Sarofim and W&T Offshore founder Tracy Krohn falling off the list. But the city gained another: Bud Adams, the former Houston Oilers owner who still takes heat for moving the team to Tennessee more than 10 years later. He broke in at No. 647 with an estimated net worth of $1.1 billion.

Houston’s richest man, energy baron Dan Duncan, saw his rank rise to 81st, despite a $2 billion drop in his net worth. Rich Kinder, CEO and chairman of Kinder Morgan, and hedge fund manager John Arnold, were the only Houston billionaires on last year’s list whose values increased this year.

Oilman Jeffrey Hildebrand and lawyer Joe Jamail held steady at $1.5 billion each but moved up more than 300 spots to No. 468 on the list.

R. Allen Stanford wasn’t listed as a Houston resident when Forbes put his worth at $2 billion on last year’s list. Now the Mexia native whose company has its headquarters here has been removed from the list.

Banks can legally take from current accounts to cover credit card debts

Banks are departure people not capable to pay mortgages by taking money from their current accounts to cover credit card and loan debts, a charity has claimed.
Citizens Advice is calling on banks to scrap the practice, which allows them to transfer funds without permission.

It says it has seen a 25% rise in the number of such cases in each of the past two years.

The British Bankers' Association says the onus is on customers to talk to their banks if they are in difficulty.

In most cases, companies can only force someone to pay a debt by taking them to court.

However, as BBC Radio 4's Money Box discovered, the Right of Set Off allows banks to legally transfer cash to pay credit card or loan arrears without account holders' permission.

Citizens Advice says there have been cases of people having benefit payments removed from accounts, leaving them unable to meet "priority debts" like mortgages and council tax.

The British Bankers' Association says cases where money has been removed "inappropriately" are regrettable but that banks take their responsibilities under the banking code seriously